I have no faith that they’ll be able to recapture the magic.

Saw too many x files episodes to feel okay about this.

Hell yeah, praxis! It might also vary by branch too.

Yeah, Iraq fucked my head up too, and I was there much later after the major combat. What stopped me in my tracks was when I saw pictures of the places I patrolled from before the invasion. I was a dumbass kid that the empire (and my family and local community) indoctrinated into believing war was good. I was hollowed out and turned into a souless pawn, trained to murder. Me getting killed for being there would have been justified and just.

I’m thankful that I’ve lived long enough to see the truth and change. Now I get to help people heal and grow for my job, and my experience gives me a deep conviction. Hopefully some of these people can change for the better and contribute positively to society. I’m not holding my breath though, few to none of my former colleagues are comrades today. I can’t say if I have any sympathy for them, maybe because I feel me being killed in Iraq would have been justified. I’ve suffered for what I did, it doesn’t absolve my culpability though. I just try to keep a materialist analysis in mind and help people understand and change the material conditions that are pushing them into abhorrent behavior or just hurting them.

If you meet someone in military service who seems to have some moral conflict, let them know they can object to the conditions of their service and get out. I wish someone had talked to me about that when I was in.

You do realize that NATO and it’s member states routinely prop up regimes that persecute the queer community, right? Basic example, universally exerting military pressure in defence of commerce and logistics for trade with Saudi Arabia, a place where we would be executed. They don’t stand for our rights or safety, Turkey and Poland are member states for crying out loud! This is a multinational organization who’s purpose is increasing arms trade and conflict, not crusade for queer liberation - it would be doing it’s business (and does) regardless of human and queer rights violations going on within it’s boarders. Queer people outside the west see it and have very negative sentiments towards NATO, do you really want to silence their voices when they’ll tell you directly how organizations like this have directly contributed to their suffering? It’s a government/military organization, not a human rights organization, it doesn’t need anyone here to be running cover for it.